An Early Snow...

Imagine our surprise when it snowed on December 10, the earliest we’ve ever seen snow. The timing was unfortunate as it complicated our journey to Amsterdam for a meeting with IMG Models. There were no trains in Voorschoten due to maintenance, along with major bus delays. Then when we finally got to Amsterdam, the metro wasn’t working and neither was our Uber app, so we resorted to having to take a taxi.  

 Amsterdam was quite lovely with a light covering of snow.

Light Walk in Scheveningen...

When I heard that a group of AWC ladies had registered for the Scheveningen Light Walk, I didn’t pay much attention. Then I heard that Hurricane Johanna was blowing into town on her way to Houston from Saudi Arabia, and I was thrilled to get a ticket from someone who couldn’t go. 

The 7.75-mile (12.5K) walk started on the Pier with a great view of the Ferris wheel.

It was very cool that the route went through Madurodam, the miniature park, that was lit up for the holidays.

It was quite impressive how many cool light installations were set up for just a single night. I included these blurry photos to show how colorful that dark night became.

This remote control car filled with fish was especially cool...

....and so was this giant moth.

Sinterklaas Hash...

The FILTH and AH3 combined efforts for a Sinterklaas Hash on December 3 in Leiden. How nice of Inga (aka Tasty Piss) to lead us into the House of Sinterklaas so we could get a group shot with the famous guy himself.

Here’s the rest of the gang at the beer stop at Smuller’s, a snack bar with an emphasis on the fried snacks rather than the bar. Although we had a tough time initially finding the trail, it was a great trail that took us through a surprising number of parts of Leiden that we’d never been to before.

Hashing in Late Autumn...

Surprisingly, we convinced Ashlynn to join us for an AH3 Hash in Amsterdam Zuid. Someone captured photos of the three of us as we were heading to the beer break in Beatrix Park.

Temps were still above freezing, but we still appreciated the hot spiked chocolate at the end.

Leiden and Amsterdam....

Ola, Nick and I spent the day after Thanksgiving in Leiden. We started with a trip to the De Valk Windmill Museum.

After climbing down all the windmill’s ladders and going to lunch, we went to a microbrewery where we were shocked when a generous Dutch woman gave us one of her beers after she overheard the bartender telling us that he had just sold the last one of what we tried to order. That night Ola and Nick headed to Amsterdam...

....where we met up with them at a pub the following night. Earlier that day, Jimmy and I happened upon an antique shop that reminded us of the Room of Requirements from Harry Potter.

We had dinner at the Foodhallen (Food Hall), where I enjoyed a soy hot dog with hummus and popcorn.

I said something to the Dutch woman next to me after noticing the name on her glass (which happened to be the name of the road where I grew up) and she suggested that I take her glass home although it wasn’t exactly hers to give away. In an example of how crime feeds upon itself, rather than rejecting her offer, we decided that taking home one glass wasn’t enough, so bought a glass of bubbly and took that glass home as well. I felt very guilty, but love our new glasses.

While walking across town to meet Ola and Nick, we came across a wall plastered with ON ON posters. We never figured out what it was actually promoting, but was definitely a fitting background for a photo of a couple of hashers.

Thanksgiving....

Normally we don’t do much for Thanksgiving since it’s a normal school and work day, but this year we had two celebrations. The first was Hashgiving in Rijswijk, where we ran a very fun hash trail by following photo clues rather than the usual flour and chalk.

Opee and I did several down-downs for being Americans and helping to cook.

Opee baked several pumpkin pies and I made homemade cranberry sauce plus mashed potatoes.

I didn’t take many photos of the change in seasons this year, so the giant tree in front of our house will have to suffice.

On Thanksgiving night we were thrilled to host Ola and Nick, who made their first visit to Holland since she moved to Germany in April and stayed with us for two nights. We were also happy that they didn’t seem to mind that we were serving a plant-based meal.

GLOW Some More...

Coming in a close 2nd place was Windows projected on the Catharina Church, which was built in 1867.

The colors and designs were very vivid and cheerful.

The city was mobbed with people, but it was easy to walk the 3.75-mile (6-kilometer) route to see the 21 installations. Frankly, my photos didn’t do justice to many of the projects. 

These two sets of lights were not part of the official festival, but just some local stores that got into the swing of things.

If you’re interested to see more of what we experienced, check out this two-minute official time-lapse and you’ll see why I’ve already marked my calendar for next year’s festival.